


A Little Late

by Acetate (DramaLama)



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 23:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4281876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaLama/pseuds/Acetate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Do you still hate basketball?" </p><p>Aomine doesn’t get a reply from Kuroko until one in the morning.</p><p>"I don’t know."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Late

When Kuroko quits basketball after Teiko. He doesn’t return. He switches his focus to his studies instead, spending hours in the library, memorising, rewriting, and revising. It’s a monotonous pattern. Dull, repetitive, boring. He wonders if this was how Aomine had felt game after each successful game. He wonders if Aomine still feels this way. Closing his eyes for the span of a second, he puts pen to paper and continues revising, thought pushed to the furthest corner of his mind. It doesn’t concern him anymore.

Each test he gets back is just another piece of paper he can mark off as complete and each day is just another day closer to when he can leave.

 

Aomine’s disappointed because they’ve won again. How many now? He doesn’t even care anymore. The games have all started blending into a whirlwind of grey. Each one as boring as the last. He can’t even remember when he started feeling so tired all the time. Missing practice has become the norm now. Sleeping before and after is the norm now. No one comes up to call him down anymore. The lectures about his bad habits stop.

“As long as you show up for games.” They tell him, “You can do whatever you want.”

He’d gone home that day with tears in his eyes--from laughing so hard.

 

Kuroko has to walk past the gym every day to get to the gates so he can leave. He hates it. Loathes it with a passion because he can always hear them. Their shouts of, “pass to me,” and, “over here,” of the ball hitting the ground or the swish of the nets, of sneakers squeaking and whistles being blown.

Whenever he has to pass by the building, he keeps his head buried in a book, muttering equations and theories out loud. Sometimes he recognises Kise’s voice, sometimes Midorima or Akashi’s. It always makes him walk faster because he’s afraid. Afraid that he’ll overhear Aomine’s deep voice, or his laughter or his shouts.

He walks faster.

 

Aomine trudges into the library, determined to get this done so Satsuki will stop bothering him and he can finally get some sleep. He just needs that stupid book so he can leave. He’s walking through aisle after dusty aisle, squinting at the spine of each tattered paperback until something bumps into his chest, he hears an oomph and glances down. Wants to sprint out of the room as fast as he can because _Tetsu’s_ staring up at him with wide blue eyes.

He feels his mouth open and close. Feels a constellation of thoughts pour into his head but not one of them takes shape into something solid for him to speak aloud. So he stares. Doesn’t hold out his hand for Tetsu, doesn’t offer to pick up his scattered books. He just stares.

Tetsu doesn’t say anything either. He picks up his things one by one and walks away without a backwards glance.

Aomine doesn’t find the book he’s looking for because he leaves the moment Tetsu is out of sight. Satsuki lectures him over the phone, and the day after but he doesn’t brush her off this time. He lays there, lets her words wash over him like smoke. He’s not listening because he’s back in the library standing over Tetsu’s frozen form. What had he wanted to say? What had Tetsu--

“Dai-chan!” Satsuki’s voice filters through his head. “Are you listening to me?”

Tetsu vanishes.

 

Purely by chance, Kuroko ends up at Touou.

Aomine does as well.

Neither notice the other’s existence.

 

There are days that have Kuroko itching to pick up a basketball. Days where he wants to try again. To be able to feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins as they stand on the precipice between a victory and defeat. On those days, Kuroko plays alone at the park. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night but it’s always by himself.

It’s fun at first. Soothes the burn in his lungs and the restlessness in his limbs but the more time he spends there--the fifth time he tries to pass only to realise that there’s no one there to receive it. He stops going so frequently.

It takes five months for the itching to stop.

 

Touou win. Over and over again.

Aomine starts avoiding Satsuki. Starts spending time at a park playing alone by himself. It’s ironic that he seems to enjoy that more than official matches.

He’s resting there one day against the fence. Staring blankly at the hoop as he replays today’s match against Seirin.

It’s the first time he’s felt _something_ other than complete boredom but like every other game, they win. However, it’s not that fact that has him thinking about the match though. It’s Seirin’s ace, Kagami, who hadn’t given up even after they’d reached a fifty point difference in scores.

He shoots the ball from his position on the ground. It misses, hits the rim of the hoop and bounces away towards the edge of the court.

Tetsu had given up.

 

It’s second year when Aomine contemplates quitting the basketball club. He doesn’t do it though, because something else distracts him.

Tetsu strolls into the classroom, book in hand. No one notices the small, blue headed boy side-stepping left and right, but Aomine notices.

 

Kuroko notices too but he pretends he doesn’t.

 

They don’t speak to each other and the silence lasts a month. It’s Aomine that breaks it.

“You finish the assignment yet?” He asks.

Kuroko stares at him before shaking his head. Neither speak for the longest time until Kuroko does.

“Want to do it together?”

 

They’re awkward. Painfully so.

Kuroko is mostly silent while Aomine stumbles over words and speaks too loudly despite the fact that Kuroko is sitting right across from him. It’s a complete disaster but Kuroko agrees to do the second one with him, and the third and the fourth one after that.

The fifth one is done at Maji Burger at night. Conversations are easier now, although they've all been completely benign until Aomine asks in passing, “wanna play basketball with me?”

Kuroko tells him no. It’s late and he has to get home.

Aomine knows he’d lied.

He continues asking though while Kuroko continues to decline. When he asks him why, Kuroko smiles and tells him he doesn’t like basketball anymore.

“It’s not fun for me anymore, Aomine-kun.”

Aomine refuses to believe that. “You’re lying, Tetsu.” Because he remembers Tetsu spending hours in the gym playing by himself. Practising until he’s shaking from exhaustion and playing with Aomine after their meeting. Tetsu couldn’t hate basketball.

The smile on Tetsu’s face is smaller now. As if he’s too deep in his own thoughts to really register what Aomine is saying. He gives a slight shake. “I’m not.” Whispered so quietly that Aomine misses it entirely. He excuses himself and leaves Touou’s ace staring at his retreating back.

 

Aomine goes to practice for the first time in a long time. Satsuki is overjoyed.

Kuroko skips class.

 

The itching gets worse for him.

He knew it’d been a terrible idea from the start. Aomine and basketball are inseparable but he refuses to step back into their old world and watch helplessly as Aomine drifts further away again. He tells himself that this is fine. They can be friends again without basketball between them.

Kuroko skips class. Heads out to the park and stands there in the middle of the courts. He doesn’t dare play.

 

Aomine shouldn’t be worried. Tetsu isn’t a child. He’s far more capable of looking after himself better than most teenagers. So the second time Kuroko skips class, Aomine doesn’t question him about it.

The third time though has him staring down at his phone wondering if maybe he _should_ be worried.

He sends a text message just as Kuroko is getting ready to leave the park.

_Where are you?_

Kuroko contemplates answering him tomorrow but he’s already typed out a reply and hit send before he can finish that train of thought.

_Carnival._

Aomine stares down at his phone, face scrunched up in confusion. Carnival? Where, when? He wonders if Tetsu is screwing with him or if he’s genuinely telling the truth. A teacher catches him and confiscates his phone and he’s left wondering when he’d become unable to figure Tetsu out.

 

They’re at Maji Burger discussing tests or rather Kuroko is lecturing and Aomine is mindlessly agreeing.

There’s a loud exclamation of surprise. Aomine loses sight of Tetsu and gets a face full of burgers instead. He looks up, annoyed.

“What do you want?” He drawls.

Kagami points a finger at him. Blabbers on and on about revenge at a winter cup that Aomine isn’t looking forward to.

“Don’t think I’m gonna lose twice to you!”

Aomine doesn’t deign him with an answer. Just shrugs and makes a noncommittal noise. It frustrates the red head even more.

“Let’s have a match right here, right now. I’ll kick your ass so hard!”

Aomine wonders if maybe crushing Kagami right now will stop the idiot’s ceaseless babbling. “Fine.” He says and just like that, burgers forgotten, Kagami is out the door and making a beeline towards the nearest basketball court. In his haste, he grabs Kuroko’s arm without realising it. “Come on, Tetsu!”

 

Aomine smiling is the only thought that filters through Kuroko’s mind, so he doesn’t notice when he starts keeping score.

Aomine wins easily but Kagami is relentless in his desire for just one more round.

It stirs something inside Kuroko’s chest and the itching returns, worse than ever.

Aomine sighs, expression shutting down. “Give up now idiot. You’re never gonna get a point off me.”

Kuroko shuffles forwards.

“I am!” Kagami declares. “One mor—“

“I’m done.” Aomine turns around to get Tetsu so they can leave but Tetsu isn’t there.

“Aomine-kun.”

He turns back around. “What?”

“One more, please.” Tetsu is standing next to Kagami, holding the ball in both hands.

 

“Dai-chan, are you listening to me? You’re going to be late for practice!”

He pulls out his phone because he's back at the park again, Tetsu is passing to Kagami and Tetsu is smiling like they're at Teiko and he's just been made a regular.

“Dai-chan!”

_Do you still hate basketball?_

He doesn’t get a reply until one in the morning.

_I don’t know._

He doesn’t ask Kuroko to join the basketball team. In fact, he skips almost all his practices now but the next time he asks Kuroko to play with him in the park, Kuroko reluctantly agrees.

Aomine’s barely broken a sweat while Kuroko is crouched next to the fence, panting.

“Do you still hate basketball?” He asks when Kuroko looks recovered enough to form a coherent sentence.

“Yes.” Kuroko states firmly and Aomine laughs because it’s worse than an official game. Tetsu is atrocious in one-on-one matches, he’s not even worn out but for some reason he doesn’t feel so tired anymore.

 

It’s inevitable and he really should've expected it sooner.

“Do _you_ like basketball, Aomine-kun?”

They’re sitting behind some classrooms sharing a lunch because Aomine had forgotten his. He glances down at the crown of Kuroko’s head and frowns. “I win.” He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter if I enjoy it or not, I win.”

When Tetsu meets his gaze, his smile is almost sad. “I like basketball.” Kuroko says. “A lot.”

He wonders why it sounds like Tetsu is saying goodbye.  

He doesn’t see Kuroko in class the next day or the day after that. He doesn’t text him though because it’s glaringly obvious and isn’t it ironic that Aomine seems to understand Tetsu best when he loses him.

 

Kuroko still loves basketball no matter how much he tries to deny it but recently, he’s come to realise that he loves Aomine too. So they can’t stay as friends. Can’t stay stuck in limbo forever. One of them has to change and he knows Aomine won’t do it unless he’s beaten. Seeing Touou’s match against Kaijo makes him want to sprint down from the stands as fast as he can and _do something_. Anything to see Aomine smile again like that time at the park, as brief as it had been.

He realises it at half-time. It’s selfish, he knows, but he does it anyway because he refuses to watch Aomine grow to hate something he used to, and still desperately wants to love so much. He understands how much it tears Aomine apart to continue playing against opponents who’ve given up. Just like he had during their days at Teiko but the way Kagami had played...maybe it wasn't too late. 

Kuroko leaves before the game is over. Decision made.

 

The next time Aomine sees Tetsu, it’s in their last year and it’s with Kagami on the other side of a court.

He’s relentless and unnecessarily cruel because there’s a tiny part of him that's still bitter about Kuroko's departure but Kagami doesn’t give up and neither does Tetsu. So when Aomine loses, he doesn’t feel a thing. Not until he’s outside the building.

He can’t sleep that night. Neither can Tetsu it seems when he gets a call from him at two in the morning.

“Aomine-kun.” He hears.

He hums in confirmation. There’s a short pause on the other end where Kuroko is gathering his thoughts.

“Do you like basketball?” He asks and what a stupid question that is because Aomine is pretty sure Tetsu knows the answer to this already, but he tells him anyway.

“I fucking hate it, Tetsu.” I hate you.

He hears faint laughter, rustling and a door being shut.

“Do you want to play?”

Aomine squeezes both eyes shut, forgets to breathe in the span of fifteen seconds. It’s freezing cold outside and almost deathly silent except for the slow crunch of cars on gravel every few hours. The moon isn’t even out. Its pitch black and dangerous and stupid but he’s already pulling a jacket on and tying his shoelaces.

“Yeah.” He breathes, halfway out the door, because he’s come to realise that he still loves basketball and he still hates losing. He doesn’t realise that he’s come to love Tetsu, until he reaches the entrance of the park.


End file.
